SAO: Roleplay

Astra wrote:

Alright. Heading there now.

It took me a few minutes to get to the gate; thankfully I'd been close to it.
"Hey Tavi," I said as I got closer, pulling my hood down as I approached, "How've you been?"

When I heard her voice, I turned and saw Astra as she was pulling down her hood, a new clothing accessory apparently. She still looked good, as always. "Hey Astra. I'm doing well. You?"

"As good as you'd expect," I said, "I'm almost level thirty, and I got some really good gear." I smiled, checking the time. It was almost midnight. "Do you want your present now, or in ten minutes at midnight?" I asked.

"Does it matter?" I asked with a small grin. I was only level 29 and halfway to her level, so it didn't bother me that much. Lack of sleep from the whole......event, had given me more free time to farm where I needed.

"Well, it's not technically Christmas yet," I said, looking up at the sky, "And you didn't get me a present, so I'm pretty sure it's against the rules."

"Yeah well," I said, looking a bit embarrassed, "it's not like I was expecting to see you again. No offense."

"Why would you think that?" I asked, "Did you really think that something could kill me?"

"Nah......well, okay either that or you'd just decide to drop all contact with me. It happens."

"I don't think you'd let me drop contact," I said, "You're like a cat." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. "So, I think I'll give you your present now." I opened the trade window and dropped the ring into it, hitting accept.

When I saw it was a ring, I mimed a gasp and said "But this is so sudden!"

I gave Tavi an incredulous look as he spoke.
"You should really be the one asking me," I said, "I mean, you haven't even gotten me a present."

"You're right, I havent," I said. Opening my item list, I scrolled through a few items before I found the Minotaur hide cloak. Sending it to Astra, I said "Not much, but thought that counts."

"I'll treasure it forever." I said, equipping it. The brown cloak replaced my previous one, and though the stats were a little bit lower, it felt a lot warmer. "So, now that we've got the gifts out of the way, what do you want to do?"

"Uh.....not sure," I answered truthfully. "Most I had in mind was do a few more quests and farm some midnight areas. That was about it really."

"So you want me to kill monsters on Christmas?" I asked, "You really know how to spoil me, Tavi." I said sarcastically. "As if we haven't spent enough time fighting monsters."

"Well not like I'm the kind of guy that knows how to treat girls right," I said with a small laugh. "Unless you just want to head back to the town of beginnings and celebrate with everyone else?"

"Only if you promise never to forget to buy me a present," I said, turning away from him and walking three steps, "Then I'll consider forgiving you."

"Hah, well one can hope I live long enough to next Christmas......if we don't clear this game before then and get out of here of course." I started following her, heading for the teleportation platform.

"That's no excuse!" I told him as we walked, "You'll have to post it to me."

"Post it to you? What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Send it through the post!" I half-shouted turning to face him at the teleporter. "I think you'd say mail it."

"Ah.....and you don't have to shout," I said, a bit sullen. So I had issues with people yelling at me so what?

"It's Christmas!" I said, "You're supposed to have fun and that doesn't mean standing in silence." I activated the teleporter, bringing up the floor selection. Only the first floor was available, and that's the one I picked. "See you there."

"Right," I said as she was enveloped in light and teleported to the first floor. Following her, I soon found myself standing in the town square of the first town, and it was more or less packed with people.

There were people everywhere, a lot of NPCs were also selling Christmas-related items. I bought some tree-shaped biscuits and sent one to Tavi, eating mine with the other hand.
"So, what do you wanna do first?"

"Well what's there to do?" I asked her,mooring around. Probably steer clear of any mistletoe. Avoid the wrong message.

"Christmas-y things I suppose." I said, moving through the crowds. I heard someone mention a spike in Player-Killing on the second floor, how there was a group of them, and I felt a tinge of pride at the fact we were so well known already. "So, are you going to join a guild or stay solo?" I asked Tavi.

"Not sure yet," I answered honestly. When I heard about the player killing in whispers, I grimaced. "Christ, more player killing. What's the fucking point of it?"

"Denial, maybe? They don't believe it's real death," I suggested.

"Well they're going to have to accept it soon enough," I muttered as we walked through the streets. "And I just hope it's denial. The alternatives are just.......sickening." My stomach nearly flipped inside me as I remembered killing that guy from before. That was it, no doubling over, no dramatic leaning against the wall of a building. And it wasn't just the memory, it was the thought that I could be trapped in here with psychopaths that enjoyed killing. Fuck me, the vast majority of players were around my age, or even younger. There were children maybe ten years old running around, and the player icon over their head let me know they were not an NPC.

Would PK'ers stoop that low, I wondered. Killing kids?

"They might have given up and gone insane," I said, still coming up with reasons, "Or it's because there's no consequences here."

"There always consequences, whether it's here in a virtual world or in the real world," I shot back. "And if they're really going to do this, then the consequence of that is going to be a large ass party of the top players coming to bring them down. Heck I'd probably join it."

"That'd make you as bad as PKers," I answered, stopping in my tracks and looking at him, "Like you said, there are always consequences. Besides, what makes you think that PvE players could beat PKers in PvP?"

"We'd be strong as them. Or stronger," I answered. "I mean hell, I'm just as strong as you and I've had my nose to the grind stone on leveling. And it's not to kill them. It's to lock them up in the prison." Closing my eyes, I grimaced and said "But if there's no real choice, if it's them or me, them or someone I care for......then killing them will be the only option, really."

"You're a hypocrite then, and so is anyone who agrees to a... crusade against them. You talk about how wrong killing is, then in the next breath you say that you'd be fine with it," I paused taking a breath, "Attacking a guild of PKers is only going to end in a blood bath, and you know it."

"Well what other choice is there?" I snarled, making a few people turn their heads suddenly. "Let them get stronger and kill us all, so that we can never get out? No, not gonna happen. It's bad enough, that being stuck in here means I have to worry about death every day of my life, but now I have to deal with psychopaths and murderers?"

"Then stay inside towns if you're that afraid," I snapped back at him, "If you really think that killing is wrong, you'd do anything to avoid it, not make excuses for why it's okay!"

"You know what? Fine, maybe killing isn't wrong. So let me clarify exactly what I mean: being okay with killing, is wrong. It's sick. That's what makes me different. I don't want to kill but if I have to, fine. Just don't congratulate me. I'll never be fine with it."

"And that is exactly why attacking them is a great way to get killed," I retorted, "You don't want to kill them. The idea of it makes you ill. They do it all the time. They enjoy it. To them, you're just another loot pile, not a person."

"Yeah well maybe I can stomach it a little, if it means putting them away. Astra we can't stay in here. These guys won't help us get out, they're probably committed to staying in this death trap." I wasn't sure how we got to this conversation really. I wish we hadn't. "Players need to work together, to unite and fight in order to beat this game so we can all go home."

"Then remember that when you kill them," I said, "That you reasoned your life was worth more than theirs. Remember all of the excuses you want, but you're still going to be exactly the same as them; a killer."

So help me I nearly hit her, but I didnt. "So I'd end up enjoying it, is that it?" I asked in a hushed tone. "Just be like them and kill because why not? Fuck that.......and fuck this, I'm out." Seething, I stalked off and said "Merry Christmas Astra."

I watched him leave, unsure of what I was feeling. On the one hand, I hated him for being such a hypocrite, but on the other, he was my friend. I sighed and switched back to my white cloak, pulling the hood up over my head as I walked to a tavern on the far side of the town.

It was odd how despite the crowds of people I walked through, how alone I suddenly felt. Alienating my friend certainly wasn't how I imagined spending Christmas. Then again, spending Christmas trapped in a death game certainly wasn't part of that dream either. Too angry to feel tired, I headed back for the teleportation gate and went back to Urbus. I had some leveling to do.

Arriving in the town, I couldn't help but chuckle at the difference in player numbers: Town of Beginnings, was packed. Here in Urbus, there were maybe a dozen. Heading for the gates, I decided I'd go for one of the easier quests this time, then more farming.

I arrived at the tavern, taking note of the people in here. I saw the guy from our group, and he waved me over.
"This is the one I was talking about," He said, "Show 'em those weapons you found." I assumed he was talking about Moon and Star, which I was thinking about selling. I showed it to them in a trade, and my friend continued, "Yeah, we can help you find some like that, there's a cave up on the second floor that always drops good loot."
So that's what he's doing, I thought to myself, Lure them in with greed.
"Yeah," I said, hiding a smile, "If you want, I'll come with you. I need to head back to Urbus anyway."

It was settled, tomorrow, at 10AM we were going to head to Urbus. By 11, we'd have ambushed them and started sorting through the loot.

It may have been safer but God almighty was it boring as hell doing the easy quests. No challenge from the low level basic enemies at all. Still, the rewards were good and I reached level 27. As I walked for the farming grounds, I selected a miscellaneous item from my inventory, a small block of wood. Plus a carving tool.

To pass the time by, I took up the whittling skill as a hobby, and began carving small things. So far I was getting pretty good.....but again, it was oversimplified. Like the cooking. Before I reached the farming grounds, I had finished my carving, a rough looking Christmas tree. It was cute, so I kept it, and drew my weapon as the first monsters spawned. Large bovine enemies, smaller than the first boss of the floor. Steam shot from their nostrils, black horns angled forward and pointed. They were two levels below me, so I still needed to be cautious.

As Christmas came to pass, Niko sat before the door to the Dungeon Boss of Floor 2. His thoughts: Do I give this data away? This valuable map. He could sell the data for quite a hefty sum, should he so desire. None yet have discovered the dungeon. Nor looked upon the bovine boss that stood between the people trapped in here and the 3rd flood. He could give it to an informant, sell it through the ranks. If he were one for greed, these things would be done without thought. Nothing in here is real, except for the deaths and the lives of the people herein.

Someone was hiding, and creeping up on him, and did not know that he knew they were coming. He turned around to face them. Calling out, "I see you, now step out." A person stepped out. Wholly unfamiliar to Niko. His mind was immediately set on high alert. He drew out his paralysis darts, just in case he had to run. No PK-er would take him this day. The man who stepped out from the shadows just laughed. Niko recognized the confidence behind the laugh, and immediately threw a dart at the man. The man noticed but was too slow to react. It hit him, and he fell to the ground unable to move.

Then some others who just now entered Niko's range of detection appeared. They were loose gang of players. None of them matched the usernames Niko knew to be partitioned to budding guilds. They must be a group of PK-ers. Shame. Niko had leveled quite a bit since entering the 2nd floor. Niko didn't move. He watched them, quietly. What would they do. One of them shouted out, "Drop your everything you have!" Even as the man said that, Niko moved to dodge a paralysis dart thrown from one of them. He threw a number of throwing daggers at the group. Hitting one, and missing the others. The dagger, however, was coated in paralysis poison, and paralyzed him. He fell off the side of the dungeon floor, and died falling into the kill barrier.

Now down a man, possibly two, the paralysis poison lasted a few minutes. That's when one of them, jumped out at Niko, he might've had more Agility than Niko, but he didn't have more strength. Niko, threw some of his throwing daggers at him as he closed the distance between them, one of the daggers was poisoned. His body fell limply and skidded across the floor to Niko, the rest of them followed after him, but Niko was too high a level for them. A few them were sent of the edge into the abyss. Then, He equipped his sword. With three critical strikes he downed one of his attackers. The other, he led over the edge. That left two, plus the one he had paralyzed at the beginning. The two seemed hesitant now. His face was unchanged. They looked younger than him. Much younger. Probably 5 or so years. It didn't matter here, however, age was but a number, and looks were deceiving. Even the smallest child could have the greatest stats. All they had to do was try. The two left jumped in at the same time. Niko recognized the movements as abilities, and moved out of the way, so they both missed him.

Then he activated his own ability.

On his way out of the dungeon, he ran into one of his informants, username: Nemesis.

Our party headed back to Urbus perfectly on time. The group were excitedly talking about the possibility of good loot and how they'd spend their money (If they got anything valuable). One of them mentioned buying a house on one of the later floors, and I found myself thinking about owning a house. I'd wanted to move out of my home in the real world and live on my own, but I hadn't been able to. Here, I probably could, though I'd have to pick up the cooking skill if I wanted to feed myself and not rely on other people.

We arrived at the ambush site at 11:40, which meant we had twenty minutes to end the fight. I slipped a poisoned throwing pick out of my sleeve, keeping it hidden in my wrist. The water supply was poisoned too, so when it was suggested that we stop for a drink, the fight would be over before it began.
"How about we stop for a drink?" I asked, feigning my thirst. A few of the party agreed, and they were the ones who took a drink. Two of them didn't, however, and I looked over at my ally, who nodded, and in unison, we threw our picks at them. Our crystals turned orange as the two fell to the ground, paralysed, and the others tried to draw their weapons until the poison kicked in, sending them to the ground. Our 'guild' walked out of the trees, each of them hooded and armed. There was discussion about what to do with them, until one man suggested we make them fight.

There was some general agreement to his plan, and that's what we did. I wasn't particularly interested, however, and only watched because there was nothing else to do. We were definitely a force to be respected and feared, seeing as this party had failed so easily. They hadn't stood a chance.

Farming had yielded a bunch of fun stuff. Well, not really but saying it made me feel enthusiastic about it. I didn't slee, spending the entire night and morning out killing enemies and finishing quests, leveling up past 27 and now well on my way to 29. I got some new armor pieces, though still nothing for my sword. Throwing picks were helpful in hunting down small animals for my second hobby: cooking. My parents were away often so that left me to cook for myself. I enjoyed it, a nice delight to cooking. Anyway, I was headed for the dungeon, mostly to map it out and check where the boss room was. This floor though......it wasn't hard anymore. Not really. It made me dread the other floors though, what was ahead of us all.

Upon meeting Nemesis, he shared the data of the dungeon and its boss. It was to be spread to everyone he met, if they were honorable enough, and of good disposition.